Results tagged “senatorarlenspecter”

Or, at least, not putting up any new ones for now.



In a victory for Philadelphians and all Americans, on Friday the National Park Service announced that a proposal to enclose Independence Hall within a security fence has been scrapped [Philly.com]. If realized, the plan would have cut Independence Square in half with a six-foot tall black iron barricade, hypocritically restricting access to one of the world's most important symbols of freedom.

After releasing the plan, the NPS also allowed for a period of public commentary, accepting thoughts from citizens via their website. Apparently the people of Philadelphia and elsewhere turned up in droves to criticize the proposal, fueled by local blog protests like this one on phillyskyline.com. In that entry, author Brad Maule summarized the problem this way:



Comments from Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa) during Friday's press conference implied that the local outcry was the main reason for reconsideration of the proposal. The public's statements resonated so well, in fact, that some of the "temporary" bicycle barricades we've endured at the site for years will also be removed. Security upgrades moving forward will focus more on improving "human resources."

This is great news. Thank you, National Park Service, for trashing this ill-conceived plan.

- And speaking of local lawmakers getting uppity, Senator Vince Fumo has declared the war in Iraq to be "unnecessary, immoral and counterproductive." In the same speech he referred to the Bush presidency as a "dictatorship" and also accused the administration of ignoring the Constitution. That pesky Constitution. Seems Pennsylvania Senators are fixated on it.

• 13-year-old Naiym Muhammed is being charged as an adult in the Sunday fire in Germantown that killed a 17-year-old girl and critically injured her mother. The charges against Muhammed include murder, arson, conspiracy. More charges are expected. Police say the fire was set in retribution over a small debt.
• Some local Dems are finding it a little harder to support Bob Casey, Jr. in the up-coming primary. Both Casey and PA Governor Ed Rendell announced their support for Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court. Many are concerned about how a woman's right to choose her own medical care might be affected should Alito's nomination be approved by the full Senate. PA Senator Arlen Specter, a self-proclaimed pro-choice Republican, voted to approve Alito's nomination during judiciary commitee hearings.
• Apparently, the general public may simply be too stupid to understand the difference between "Ben Station" and "Penn Station". We're told tourism officials in Philly are wary of renaming 30th Street to honor Ben Franklin because there might be some confusion. From what we hear, there's already confusion, so what's the difference? It really doesn't matter, because the Pew Charitable Trusts has decided not to pursue the name change.